Ukraine in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026

Ukraine is set to be represented at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Ta' Qali, Attard, Malta. The Ukrainian participating broadcaster, Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (Suspilne) will organise the national final Natsvidbir na Dytiache Yevrobachennia – 2026 in order to select the Ukrainian entry for the 2026 contest.

Ukraine in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Participating broadcaster	Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (Suspilne)
Country	Ukraine
Selection process	Natsvidbir na Dytiache Yevrobachennia – 2026
Selection date	September 2026
Competing entry
Song	"TBD"
Artist	TBD
Songwriters	TBD
Placement
Final result	TBD
Participation chronology
◄2025 • 2026

Background

Main article: Ukraine in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

Prior to the 2026 contest, Ukraine had participated in the contest twenty times, without ever missing an edition since its debut appearance in 2006. The country came second in 2008 with the song "Matrosy" performed by Viktoria Petryk, which remained its best result until 2012, when Anastasiya Petryk – who happens to be Viktoria's younger sister – represented the country with the song "Nebo" and won the contest. Ukraine has hosted the event twice, both times in its capital city, Kyiv: at the Palace of Sports in 2009  – the same venue that previously hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 – and at the Palace "Ukraine" in 2013. In 2025, Sofiia Nersesian competed for Ukraine with the song "Motanka", which ended up in 2nd place out of 18 entries with 177 points.

Before Junior Eurovision

Natsvidbir na Dytiache Yevrobachennia – 2026

Natsvidbir na Dytiache Yevrobachennia – 2026 is the national final format developed by Suspilne in order to select Ukraine's entry for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The competition consists of a final to be held in September 2026.

Format

Svitlana Tarabarova, music producer of Natsvidbir na Dytiache Yevrobachennia – 2026 and songwriter for the finalist entries together with Alyona Alyona

The selection of the competing entries for the national final will take place over three stages. In the first stage, artists can apply for the competition through an online submission form, for which they're required to submit videos of two cover songs, but can also submit a self-written original song for consideration. For the fourth year in a row, Svitlana Tarabarova is the music producer of the event, who is in charge of reviewing the received submissions and selecting a longlist of 15 participants, which will be announced by 29 July 2026. In the second stage, longlisted artists will be assessed by a three-member expert council, 10 of whom will move on to the "Star School". The six selected acts will take part in a final on September 2026, where the winner will be determined by a 50/50 combination of jury and public votes – the latter being cast through the Diia application over two phases of voting. The third stage consists of Suspilne assigning specially-made songs written by Tarabarova and Alyona Alyona – who represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 alongside Jerry Heil, unless the finalists want to compete with self-written songs if submitted.

Competing entries

The submission process for interested artists aged between nine and fourteen is open between 16 June and 8 July 2026. All submissions required participants to enter covers of two songs and a separate introduction video; however, artists are also allowed to submit original songs for consideration. Precedence is not given to complete submissions, with Suspilne also reserving the right to replace a song submitted by an eventual finalist with a new entry of its choice if such a case occurs.